INFORMATION FOR
Composer and arranger Maria Schneider will join the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra as a guest conductor for the special finale concert of the spring Jazz Room Series at William Paterson University on Friday, April 23. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on the campus in Wayne.
Tickets are available in advance or on the day of the performance at $15 standard; $12 senior citizens, William Paterson faculty, staff and alumni; and $8 for non-William Paterson students. William Paterson students may attend free of charge.
Schneider will be joined by Rich Perry, her longtime tenor saxophonist, and a member of the William Paterson music faculty. Perry will be the featured soloist on two pieces for the concert. As a charter member of Schneider’s orchestra, Perry has been featured on all of her CDs. Her latest recording, Sky Blue, features the song "Rich’s Piece," a composition written for him. Perry has performed with Schneider in Europe, Asia, and throughout the U.S.
Schneider is widely recognized as one of the leaders in jazz composition today. Her unique style draws from such diverse sources as Cuban and Brazilian influences, European chamber music, as well as the works of Gil Evans and her mentor, Bob Brookmeyer.
She became widely known through the Maria Schneider Orchestra, which she founded in 1992. The Maria Schneider Orchestra has performed at festivals and concert halls worldwide, and she herself has received numerous commissions and guest-conducting invites, working with over 80 groups from over 20 countries spanning Europe, South America, Australia, and the U.S.
Schneider won her first Grammy for her 2004 CD, Concert in the Garden, which made history as the first record to win a Grammy with Internet-only sales. She garnered two more Grammy nominations for her 2007 release Sky Blue. Schneider’s career has included many other honors including numerous Grammy nominations and Best Composer, Best Arranger, and Best Big Band awards from the Jazz Journalists Association and in the Down Beat Critics Poll. Launched in 1978, The Jazz Room is one of the largest and most prestigious college-sponsored jazz events in the country. Performers include renowned professionals who encompass the complete spectrum of jazz, from practitioners of traditional jazz to avant-garde to bebop to swing to Afro-Latin jazz, as well as William Paterson’s own student ensembles. The series has won numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for its innovative programming.
Funding for The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State.
For tickets or information, call the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371 or order online at www.wplive.org.
